Creation Myths
Creation myths (cosmogonies) attempted to explain
the origin and creation of the universe. They were first formalized
during the Old Kingdom, when the priesthoods of the most important
gods tried to rationalize and coordinate the multitude of cults and
multiplicity of deities that made up the predynastic pantheon.
Some cities became great religious centers associated with particular gods or groups of gods who each had their own theology. Every center tried to claim the supremacy of its own god and to establish his principal role in the creation of the universe, all other gods, and mankind. The three main cosmogonies were established during the Old Kingdom, but others (such as the Theban cosmogony, centered around Amun) developed later. All the major myths claimed that each center was the place where the primordial mound, the “Island of Creation,” had emerged from the ocean. Life had begun here and each priesthood claimed that their own god’s temple was the physical location of that mythical island and therefore a place of great spiritual and magical potency. At this “First Occasion” light and land came into existence and the first god, in the form of a bird, alighted on the island. After this there was a gradual but steady development in the process of civilization until a golden age emerged when the gods ruled on earth, establishing law, ethics, and all the elements for orderly human existence. At the end of this era the gods returned to the heavens, but they directed the king to rule Egypt as their heir and successor according to the principles of ma’at (divine order, equilibrium, and justice) in order that the conditions of the golden age could be continued forever. . The Heliopolitan Myth The most famous and influential cosmogony emerged at Iwnw (Heliopolis); it centered around Re-Atum (Re, the sun god, had assimilated some of the characteristics of Atum, an earlier deity at the site). The main source for this Heliopolitan myth are the Pyramid Texts, and the myth clearly had a great influence on many aspects of religion. Two groups of gods feature in this myth; these are the Great Ennead (group of nine gods), which included Re-Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys, and the Lesser Ennead, which was led by Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis. Re-Atum brought himself into existence by self-generation and produced children (Shu and Tefnut, representing air and moisture) who in turn became the parents of Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky). These gods were all cosmic deities and personified the elements that were required for creation to take place. The children of Geb and Nut Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys were not cosmic. The myth recounts that Re-Atum took the form of the mythical Bennu bird and alighted on the benben (a pillar associated with the sun god) when he arrived at the island. In Re’s temple at Heliopolis the benben was the god’s cult symbol. It had probably been there from the earliest years of the cult, and it was perhaps a conically shaped stone. The Egyptians believed that it marked the exact place of creation where the sun god had first alighted. .
.
The Memphite Myth
Re-Atum’s greatest rival was Ptah, who was worshiped as the supreme creator god at Memphis. The Memphite creation myth claimed that Ptah was in fact Nun (the state of nonexistence prior to the creation) and that he had begotten a daughter, Naunet, by whom he fathered Re-Atum. This placed Ptah ahead of Re-Atum in the creation genealogy. Memphite theology (preserved in a much later text on the Shabaka Stone) claimed that Ptah was supreme creator of the universe who had brought everything into existence through his thoughts (expressed by the heart) and his will (expressed by his tongue). Ptah created the world, the gods, their centers, shrines, and images and the cities, food, drink, and all requirements for life. He also established abstract concepts and principles such as divine utterance and ethics. Ptah’s mythology had no widespread popular appeal, however, and although he received royal support he was never adopted as supreme royal patron. .
.
The Hermopolitan Myth
The third great cosmogony emerged at Hermopolis, the cult center of Thoth, god of wisdom. There were several versions of the Hermopolitan myth, but they all attempted to establish the center’s supremacy and primal role in creation. In one account the Hermopolitan Ogdoad (group of eight gods) played the major role: the four males Nun (primeval waters), Huh (eternity), Kuk (darkness), and Amun (air) and their female consorts Naunet, Hauhet, Kauket, and Amaunet created the world immediately after the First Occasion. When these frogheaded males and serpent-headed females eventually died, they continued their existence in the underworld where they made the Nile flow and the sun rise so that life could continue on earth. In another version a cosmic egg replaced the primordial ocean as the source of life. A bird (either a goose called the “great Cackler” or an ibis representing Thoth) laid this egg on the island and, when it opened, it contained air (essential for life) or, in a variant, the god Re was inside in the form of a bird when he proceeded to create the world. Yet another account describes how the ogdoad created a lotus flower that arose out of the “Sea of Knives” (perhaps the Sacred Lake of the temple at Hermopolis). When the flower opened its petals it revealed either the child Re who then created the world or a scarab that changed into a boy whose tears became mankind. . Later Myths In the New Kingdom the Theban cosmogony, which was developed at the Temple of Amen- Re at Karnak, claimed that Thebes was the original site of creation where Amen-Re had made all gods and mankind. A later, less important myth described how Khnum, the ramheaded god of Elephantine, had modeled men and women on his potter’s wheel. .
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Creation Myths
|
||||
